The Islanders couldn’t take advantage of their momentum to earn a second point against the Flyers, but that wasn’t their most important loss Friday.
Kyle Palmieri exited the game with a lower-body injury and the Islanders dropped their third game in four to open a seven-game homestand with a 4-3 loss to the Flyers on Travis Konecny’s shootout winner.
Palmieri somehow assisted Emil Heineman’s goal while struggling to get off the ice after falling awkwardly in the corner, but didn’t return to the game after the 14:22 mark of the second.
“He’ll see the doctor tomorrow,” coach Patrick Roy said. “But I think everybody knows it doesn’t look very good.”
Palmieri’s heroics helped the Islanders to tie the game having gone down 3-0, but they couldn’t take the lead despite having plenty of chances late in the game.
Matvei Michkov’s high stick on Cal Ritchie — after Samuel Ersson stoned No. 64 off Anthony Duclair’s feed on the rush with 7:40 to go in regulation — gave the Islanders a four-minute power play.
Travis Konecny scores a goal for the Flyers in the shootout Nov. 28. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
Despite having broken their scoreless streak at five-on-four earlier in the game, the Islanders couldn’t convert this one, and would quickly regret it.
The Islanders picked up a hard-earned point by getting the game as far as overtime, but failed to get the second.
Instead, Ersson’s heroics in the extra period gave the Flyers breathing room, and the Swede outdueled David Rittich in the shootout for good measure.
“We battled back and tied it up, we get a point out of it. Obviously, you want two,” Scott Mayfield told The Post. “We’re playing good hockey. We’re doing good things.
“I don’t know how many posts we had there in the third period. There’s one in the shootout, too. You take one of those just a little bit inside, it goes in. It’s tough but that’s hockey.”
True enough, but 1-2-1 through the first four games of a seven-game homestand isn’t good enough, and losing Palmieri makes this one tougher to swallow.
The Islanders react after falling to the Flyers on Nov. 28. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
Less than three minutes after Heineman made it a 3-1 game, Matthew Schaefer ripped in his eighth goal of the season to make it 3-2 during a delayed penalty.
Schaefer’s shot from the top of the zone on the power play was deflected by Max Shabanov and then Anders Lee before lodging in the back of the net to tie the game at 3-3 at 19:13 of the second.
That was the Islanders’ first power-play goal in over two weeks and in 29 attempts.
On the ice from Long Island
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Consecutive turnovers by Heineman and Tony DeAngelo led to goals from Tyson Foerster and Sean Couturier just 22 seconds apart to open a 2-0 lead for Philadelphia.
Trevor Zegras’ power-play goal 1:55 into the second, which banked off Ryan Pulock’s skate and in, made it 3-0.
“If we didn’t turn over those two pucks, it would probably be a very solid performance,” Roy said. “Unfortunately, they’re part of the game.”